Clarifying that he never said that the ruling Left party in neighbouring Kerala supported the BJP-JD(S) alliance, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Saturday said there is “some confusion in the CPI(M) regarding my statement”.
“My Communist friends do not seem to have followed what I said nor the context in which I said. I never said the CPM in Kerala supports the BJP-JD(S) alliance,” Mr. Gowda said on the X (formerly Twitter).
“I only said that my party unit in Kerala is getting along with the LDF government, as things within my party units outside Karnataka remain unresolved after our alliance with the BJP. I wish CPI(M) leaders had chosen their words better or had sought clarification,” he said.
The JD(S) is a constituent of the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.
On Thursday, while removing State JD(S) Karnataka unit president C.M. Ibrahim from the State working committee by dissolving it –for raising a banner of revolt against the party leadership for tying up with the BJP – Mr. Gowda reportedly said: “Kerala’s Left government’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has given full concurrence to move forward in Karnataka with the BJP to save the party. This is the position.”
Mr. Vijayan had flatly denied Mr. Gowda’s claim. Responding to a query on Mr. Vijayan’s rebuttal, former Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy told presspersons on Saturday that Mr. Gowda had already clarified the issue.
Mr. Kumaraswamy, who is also the ad hoc State president of the JD(S) now, said the Kerala unit of the JD(S) continues to be part of the LDF government there. “The situation in Kerala is different from that in Karnataka. The issue we have is confined to our party in Karnataka. It is not something we wish to discuss with the Kerala Chief Minister,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
